Process of burning fuel.



E. POHL.

PROCESS OF BURNING run. APPLlCATlON FILED FEB. 2,19I6. 1,216,099Patented Dec. 26,1916.

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EDWARD POHL, or ivnwvo'n x, N. a.

PROCESS OF BURNING- FUEL.

I Specification of Letters Patent; 7 Patented D 3. 26, 191%.

' Application filed February 2, 1916. Serial iv qrskm.

1 ing for its essentialeonstituents stearic acid and alcohol, thecompound forming a solid at ordinary temperatures. Alcohol in this formis admirably suitedfor use as a heating medium in households and otherplaces where thereis a likelihood of a liquid (spilling, as ell asproviding a formof alcohol vh'ich is adapted to be sold to the retailtrade for heating purposes. Heretofore ithas been the. usual practice tosell solidified alcohol in a can similar to a paint can having an opentop provided with an air-tight cover, the alcohol being u l z y removingthe cover and igniting the inflammable vapors which slowly rise from thesurface of the body of'the fuel Within the receptacle. However, it hasbeen found that this method of burning the alcohol is not eliicient, nordoes it produce intense heat for the reason that the air does not comeinto intimate contact with all portions of the combustible vapor, theresult of which is incomplete combustion.

The object of my inventionis to provide a new method or process ofburning a fuel which gives off inflammable vapors at ordinarytemperatures, which method is particularly adapted for use withsolidified alcohol, and in carrying out my improved method or process, Imake. use of the wellknown theory that if a fuel, either liquid or solidwhich gives off an inflammable vapor, is heated, then thevaporization'vvilltake place more rapidly which permits the collectionof the vapor in a closed chamber under pres- I sure, after Whichthevapor may be divided into streams and passed through a burner so thatwhen it is 1gn1ted, a more intimate mixture of the vapor and air will beobtained,

which will produce a more intense heat, as wellas providing a moreeconomic consumption of fuel. The fact that the vapor 18 under pressuremay also be utilized to direct the flames against the surface to beheated. In so faras I am aware, this method of burning fuel 'hasbeenutilized with heaters where an" additional burner is provided to heatthe fuel to cause the rapid evaporation of the inflammable vapor. "Whilesuch a burner can be provided with a liquid fuel, which burner may besupplied from the samesource as the main burner, yet with a solid fuel,such as solidified alcohol, an addi- "tional burner fed from the samesource of fuel is an impractical if not an impossible, construction. I

"Myimproved method therefore, hasfor its purpose the elimination of thisadditional burner and comprises burning the inflammable vapors whichrise from the surface of the fuel for a sufiicient period of time toenable a portion of the heat generated in this manner, to heat the bodyof the fuel and cause a more rapidevaporation of the fuel.

' When evaporationis taking place at a relatively rapid rate, the flamefrom the surface of the body "ofthe fuel is extinguished andsimultaneously therewith the vapor, which is now being rapidly given offby the fuel, is

collected and burned in independent jets at I points removed from thesurface of the body of the fuel.

A'portion of the heat from these burning jets is also utilized to heatthe body of the fuel so, that the vaporization of the same will continueat the same or at a more rapid rate.

, More specifically stated, the method consists in placing the fuel inan open container having heat-conducting Walls in w'hich the surface ofthe body of the fuel Within the container is exposed to the atmosphereand the vapor rising from this exposed surface is "burned for a periodof time sufficient to causea portion of the heat to be transmitted tothe walls of the containerto heat the body of the fuel and to cause itto vaporize at a more rapid rate. This flame is then extinguished andthe Walls of the chamber are simultaneously extended to provide a closedchamber above "the fuel. The chamber thus formed is provided with burneropenings. through which the vapor will then flow in independent jetsWhich will be ignited and burned,the openings being of such a size thata low vapor pressure will be created in the closed chamber. Theseburning jets are so directed as to cause a portion of the heat therefromto impinge upon the walls of the burner and continue to heat the body ofthe fuel so that the vaporization of the same will be continued.

The method described may be carried on with various kinds of apparatusand in the illustrated embodiment herein shown, one specific devicewhich is adapted for this purpose is shown, but it is to be understoodthat the method or process is in no manner restricted to the apparatusshown.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows a heater which is adaptedfor use in practising my improved method; and Fig. 2 is a centralsection through the same, with the auxiliary cover which covers theburner openings removed.

The heater comprises a container 1 which as in the usual construction,is formed of a sheet metal and is provided with an open top closed by adish-shaped cover 2, which, when in place, forms an air-tight jointbetween the container and cover and prevents any evaporation of thefuel, the container being similar to the usual type of paint can. Thiscan is only partially filled with the fuel which is indicated at 3, andwhile various kinds of liquid and solid fuels may be used, which giveoff an inflammable vapor at ordinary temperatures, the invention isparticularly applicable to solid fuels, such as solidified alcohol.

Arranged in the walls of the container above the level of the top of thefuel, are a plurality of restricted burner openings 4. These openingsare arranged in the walls of the container so that the jets of flameissuing therefrom will impinge against the walls of the container and aportion of the heat of the burning jets will therefore be transmitted tothese walls. The burning openings should be of a size that theircombined area is such that the vapor which collects in the closedchamber formed above the body of the fuel when the top is replaced uponthe package, is restricted in its passage from the chamber sufficientlyto create low vapor pressure Within the chamber.

In order to prevent the evaporation of the fuel through the burneropenings l when the heater is not being used, an auxiliary closer 5 isprovided having a flange which fits tightly over the upper portions ofthe side walls of the container and seals the burner openings. The typeof heater described is similar to the one described and claimed in mycopending application Serial No. 75,773, filed February 2, 1916, and isillustrated and described merely for the purpose of showing one type ofheater with which my improved method may be practised, which will now bedescribed in connection with the embodiment shown.

When it is desired to burn the alcohol,

both'covers 2 and 5 are first removed, which "will expose a portion ofthe surface of the supports the cover and within a comparatively shorttime, say, from fifteen seconds to a minute and a half, a portion of thesolidified alcohol within the container will be melted and evaporationwill take place much more rapidly. lVhen this occurs, the cover 2 isreplaced upon the container, which extinguishes the flame rising fromthe surface of the body of the fuel and if the evaporation of the fuelis taking place at a relatively rapid'rate, suflicient vapor willcollect in the closed chamber above the surface of the fuel, which isformed by replacing the cover 2 to flow outwardly through the burneropenings 4 where it is ignited and burned in a plurality of independentjets. These jets of flame since the burner openings in the form shownare in the side walls of the container, curve around and impinge againstthe upper end portions of the side walls of the container and willtherefore heat both the container and its top, which heat will beconducted to the body of the fuel and cause a further evaporation of thefuel to produce an inflammable vapor, which vapor collects in the closedchamber as be fore described and flows out through the burner openings,where it is burned.

One of the important features of the process described is that the heatdeveloped remains as great even after the volume of fuel in thecontainer has been materially decreased. This is true because the vaporis only burned at the surface of the fuel during the initial steps ofthe process, while at all other times the vapor from the surface of thefuel rises and flows out through the burner openings which remain at afixed distance from the article to be heated, and since the evaporationof the fuel continues until it is entirely consumed, the burning jetswill give as much, if not a greater amount of heat until the fuel isentirely consumed.

I claim:

1. The process of producing heat from a liquid or solid fuel whichvaporizes slowly at ordinary temperatures and gives ofl an inflammablevapor, which consists in burning the vapor at an exposed surface thereofand causing a portion of the heat generated to heat the fuel andincrease its rate of vaan open receptacle having heat-conducting Walls,until the heat communicated to the Walls sufficiently heats the body ofthe fuel to cause a rapid evaporation thereof, then extending the Wallsof the receptacle to form a closed chamber above the body of the fueland simultaneously extinguishing the flame from the surface of the bodyof the fuel, and c finally burning the vapor collecting in the closedchamber in a plurality of independent jets While causing the heattherefrom to heat the Walls of the receptacle and the body oration ofthe fuel.

of the fuel to cause a continued rapid evap- 3. The process of producingheat from a liquid or solid fuel which vaporizes slowly at ordinarytemperatures and gives off an inflammable vapor, which consists inburning the vapor at an exposed surface thereof and causing a portion ofthe heat generated to heat the fuel and increase its rate ofvaporization, then extinguishing the flame from the surface of the fueland inclosing the entire quantity of collecting vapor given off bythefuel under pressure, then burning the collecting vapor under pressurein a plurality of independent jets directed to im- I part heat to thefuel. n In Witness whereof, I subscribe my signature, in the presence oftWo Witnesses.

EDWARD P OHL Witnesses:

VVALno M. CHAPIN, MARY Gr. HART. 7

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents e ach', byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 03

